The Methodologies of Neuroeconomics

We critically review the methodological practices of two research programs which are jointly called 'neuroeconomics'. We defend the first of these, termed 'neurocellular economics' (NE) by Ross (2008), from an attack on its relevance by Gul and Pesendorfer (2008) (GP). This attack arbitrarily singles out some but not all processing variables as unimportant to economics, is insensitive to the realities of empirical theory testing, and ignores the central importance to economics of 'ecological rationality' (Smith 2007). GP ironically share this last attitude with advocates of 'behavioral economics in the scanner' (BES), the other, and better known, branch of neuroeconomics. We consider grounds for skepticism about the accomplishments of this research program to date, based on its methodological individualism, its ad hoc econometrics, its tolerance for invalid reverse inference, and its inattention to the difficulties involved in extracting temporally lagged data if people's anticipation of reward causes pre-emptive blood flow.

Sacred Heart

Sixty miles south of Storrs, Connecticut, but well within the scope of the media spotlight that engulfs the UConn women\u27s basketball team, sits one of the nation\u27s newest Division I women\u27s programs. Sacred Heart University, a small, independent, private Catholic school located in suburban Fairfield, made the quantum leap from Division II to Division I in 1999

London’s foundations protecting the geodiversity of the capital

This report describes a geodiversity audit of London commissioned by a partnership led by the Greater London Authority (GLA), which includes the British Geological Survey (BGS), Natural England, Government Office for London, London Biodiversity Partnership, London Borough of Lambeth, Harrow and Hillingdon Geological Society, South London London RIGS Groups, Hanson UK and Queen Mary College, University of London. The project was funded by an Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund grant from Natural England plus additional support from the GLA, BGS and Natural England London Region. The audit began with a review of the available geodiversity documentation for London including: BGS field maps, databases and publications; Regional Important Geological Sites (RIGS) Group information; Natural England Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Geological Conservation Review (GCR) documentation; and documentation and data from the GLA and London Boroughs. An initial list of around 470 sites with potential for geodiversity value was compiled from this information. This list was then narrowed down to 100 for further assessment by exporting site locations to a GIS and cross-checking against digital aerial photography backed up by BGS staff local geological expertise. Using the procedure set out in this report field auditing was carried out by BGS staff and the South London RIGS Group between November 2007 and April 2008. From the list of 100 sites, 35 sites were found to be suitable for detailed auditing. Harrow and Hillingdon Geological Society audited a further site in November 2008, bringing the total to 36 sites. Using the criteria set out in this report 14 of the 36 sites are recommended for designation as Regionally Important Geological/geomorphological Sites (RIGS) in borough Local Development Documents. Of the 33 London boroughs, RIGS are recommended in eight, with five in Bromley, three in Croydon and one each in Lewisham, Ealing, Greenwich, Harrow, Hillingdon and Bexley. Using the criteria set out in this report 15 of the 36 sites have the potential to be designated as Locally Important Geological Sites (LIGS). These sites are located in nine boroughs, three in Waltham Forest, two in Bromley, two in Islington and one each in Barnet, Lewisham, Redbridge, Wandsworth, Southwark and Sutton. Planning proposals should have regard to geodiversity in order to implement strategic and local policies. Sites should be protected, managed and enhanced and, where ppropriate, new development should provide improvements to the geodiversity value of a site. This can include measures that promote public access, study, interpretation and appreciation of geodiversity. In addition to individual sites of geodiversity interest, Greater London has distinctive natural landscapes shaped by geological processes, such as undulating chalk downlands with dry valleys in south London, and river terraces forming long flat areas separated by steeper areas of terrace front slopes. This natural topographic geodiversity underlying London should be understood, respected and only altered in that knowledge with full knowledge of it origin and form. Planners are encouraged to use authentic contouring in restoration work and new landscaping schemes, maintain the contributions of natural topography, rock outcrops, landscape features, and to maintain soil quality, quantity and function

An analytic model of coordinated effort with application to the problem of surveillance C3

In this work, a two-level surveillance system is studied. A cybernetic model is developed from which an ergodic Markov process model and the characteristic entropy function are determined. Computer simulation results are presented that show relative performance curves for "central" and "local" control modes. Several levels of sophistication in resource allocation policies are compared for each modality. The effects of communications delays, sensor mobility, and target dynamic behavior are considered. Extensions of the model to more complex surveillance environments is discussed and avenues for further development of the theory are indicated.supported by the Office of Secretary of Defense, Director of NET Assessment, Washington, DC.http://archive.org/details/analyticmodelofc00moosMIPR # DWAM 90002N

Technical and financial aspects of clonally propagated rubber planting stock for rubber agroforestry in Mindanao

Recently there has been a rapid increase in the area of rubber agroforestry established in Mindanao in the Philippines, in response to high international rubber prices and the production deficit in the Philippines. A critical requirement for plantation development is the availability of high quality planting material, and in particular clonal budstock of new varieties including those suited to upland areas. Technical and financial aspects of rubber agroforestry have been investigated, as a precursor to developing a financial model for the establishment of a budwood garden and a nursery for the production of clonal planting material

Smoking and Intertemporal Risk Attitudes

Atemporal risk preferences, time preferences, and intertemporal risk preferences are central to economic explanations of addiction, but have received little attention in the experimental economic literature on substance use. We conduct an incentive-compatible experiment designed to elicit the atemporal risk preferences, time preferences, and intertemporal risk preferences of a sample of student (n = 145) and staff (n = 111) smokers, ex-smokers, and non-smokers at the University of Cape Town in 2016-2017. We estimate a structural model of intertemporal risk preferences jointly with a rank-dependent utility model of choice under atemporal risk and a quasi-hyperbolic model of time preferences. We find no substantive differences in atemporal risk preferences according to smoking status, smoking intensity, and smoking severity, but do find that time preferences have an economically significant association with smoking behaviour. Smokers discount at a far higher rate than non-smokers, and ex-smokers discount at a level between these groups. There is also a large, positive relationship between smoking intensity and discounting behaviour that has important implications for treatment. The intertemporal risk preferences of our sample exhibit significant heterogeneity and we find, contrary to the assumption employed by some economic models, that smokers do not exhibit intertemporal risk seeking behaviour. Instead, our sample is characterised by high levels of intertemporal risk aversion which varies by smoking intensity and smoking severity in men, but not in women

UC-377 Litter Scramble: Encouraging conservation through play

Litter Scramble is a quick-play video gaming experience that delivers a nostalgic low-res combination of 2d assets in a 3d environment to produce an informative and entertaining session that will leave the player better informed on the impact that pollution and littering have on the natural world around us. Featuring a cast of simply animated 2d animals appropriate for a Georgia state park, the player will control a ranger through two different levels, each reflecting a different park environment, in a race against time and the animals to capture as much litter as possible. The development team was eager to turn hardware limitations presented by the required operating device and display system into advantages of our game, which we have done successfully. The gaming experience features simple and intuitive controls, sound effects, background music, and the chance at placing in the top ten scores

The seedling nursery survey in Leyte Island and Northern Mindanao, the Philippines

The operation of private and government nurseries in the Philippines is not delivering high quality planting materials of a wide species base for smallholder forestry, tree farming and reforestation programs in the country. A project supported by ACIAR has been implemented in the Philippines to improve the operational effectiveness of the forest nursery sector. Surveys in the form of personal interviews, observations of the nursery set-up and assessment of seedling quality were undertaken in Leyte and Mindanao to provide baseline information for designing possible interventions. The study revealed that the low operational effectiveness of the forest nursery industry is a result of a combination of social, economic, technical and political factors. The majority of private nurseries are managed by resource constrained smallholders with little access to high quality seedling production technologies.Seedling production, both in private and government nurseries, is largely quantity-oriented and the pathway of high quality germplasm is not well developed. Currently there is no policy that regulates the quality of planting stock from the forest nursery sector. Government nurseries operate to provide free seedlings but this scheme resulted in crowding out the small-scale private nurseries, negatively affecting the operational effectiveness of the private nursery sector. It appears that improving the operational effectiveness of the forest nursery sector in the Philippines requires policy changes to re-organize the operation of private and government nurseries